Keep paying police and fire employees a physician's salary and public works employees an engineer's - and then pay them not to work for 20, 30 or even 40 years (e.g. taxpayer funded pensions) - and absurd and ever-soaring property taxes (on homes that have dramatically declined in value) will follow. This city's politicians together with its public-unions have and will continue to financially r@pe its taxpayers. View Comment

Spot on, Rob. Police and fire budgets/pensions are beginning to bankrupt cities across the country. Don't get me wrong - these guys should be paid a good salary simply for the risk involved (note, however, that there are plenty of more dangerous jobs out there that pay a fraction). They should not, however, make an engineer's salary on the low-end and a surgeon's salary on the high-end. View Comment

A few less police officers and fire employees making well into the six-figures - and retiring with a lavish, taxpayer-funded pension at 48 - and one or two less palatial fire and police headquarters would allow this (minor) tax cut for overburdened Norwalk taxpayers to occur. View Comment

A job at the Norwalk Fire Dept. is like hitting the lottery; starting salary (for someone with just a high school diploma or GED) higher than what most entry-level engineers can expect to make out of the gate, near or above six-figure compensation within just a few years, incredibly generous taxpayer funded retirements that may endure thirty or fourty years, new high-priced boat and truck and a palatial new headquarters. It's no wonder that while property values in this city have fallen dramatically, the taxes on said properties has risen! A paradox indeed. And all because the city's political forces have sold-out Norwalk's taxpayers in exchange for the fire union's backing. View Comment

Perhaps that $20 million palace we're building them will improve response times. View Comment

I applaud Ms. Witkowsky as I agree with the content of her letter; however, why is there no mention of the Norwalk Fire Department - another shining example of why our property taxes here in Norwalk are so outrageous. Starting salaries of $60,000-plus, top salaries well into the six-figures, top-notch benefits, several weeks paid vacation per year, retirement at 50 with near (or above) six-figure annual packages and a shiny new $15 million-plus station. View Comment

Tim - no offense, but you're a jack*ss; the blame for this death lies solely with the driver. The fact that she's had her license all of three months and thought nothing of surfing the web while driving a 4,000 lb. SUV is infuriating. Moreover, New Canaan Ave. isn't the only main road in the area with narrow jogging/biking lanes and no sidewalks. How about Newtown Ave.? It's the same deal. Yet I've driven up and down that road many times per day for twenty years - and doing so passing countless joggers/bikers. Never hit one though, because I've the sense not to text or surf the web when my attention should be solely on driving the car. Also, you obviously have some beef with the Norwalk Police Dept. Assuming you live in Norwalk, do me a favor - call someone else if someone breaks into your house. View Comment

Terrific - working in the private sector, my salary has been stagnant the last three years. Meanwhile, my property taxes - presently totaling $6,800/yr. - here in Norwalk have ballooned over the previous few years. I suppose I should've skipped undergraduate and graduate school and gone to work for the city; heck, I could be making near or above six-figures, spending my days in the Taj Mahal of fire stations and looking forward to retiring at fifty with a taxpayer-funded pension. View Comment

Well Tim, you're clearly in the minority in blaming this accident on the jogger. Moreover, apparently you haven't paid attention the past several years as the phenomenon of texting while driving has exploded - and with literally thousands of tragic consequences. Studies have concluded - and unequivocally so - that texting while driving is considerably more dangerous than driving drunk (as measured by reaction times). So take your head out of your a** and understand this is currently a huge problem - one that is preventable (or at least controlable). Incidentally, I - as I presume you are as judged by your rant on freedom - am a libertarian; but tell me this: would you feel the same had someone close to you been killed because some idiot simply couldn't wait to text some trivial remark to his or her buddy? View Comment

Don't mean to be presumptuous, but I'm willing to bet this is yet another case of a distracted teen driver; texting while driving should be banned immediately with severe consequences for those found doing so. View Comment

The councilman got this one correct; those in the fire department are provided hefty salaries and benefits along with a sweet pension - to do a job that the majority of communities in this country have done on a volunteer-basis. Apparenly, that's not enough. View Comment